Top Cognacs for National Cognac Day

Martell's VSOP Medallion Cognac incorporates eaux-de-vie between four and seven years old, with the average age said to be closer to six years of age. The blend incorporates grapes from four of six Cognac crus, with an emphasis on the Fins Bois and Petite Champagne regions. This is contrary to most of Martell's line, which heavily emphasizes the Borderies region. Note: This style is being phased out and replaced with Martell VSOP Aged in Red Barrels.

Paul Giraud Cognacs routinely exceed the minimum age for the classifications designated, often by many years. Their VSOP is aged for 8 years, which is double the minimum. It is aged in Limousin oak in humid aging cellars and color is never added to their products.

The Paul Beau label represents one of Cognac's first growers to bottle brandy under their own name in 1895. Not that they were a young producer then, their 200 acres of prime land in the Grand Champagne have been cultivated by their family for long before that. The style here emphasizes elegance, and is achieved by removing the fine lees (expired yeast cells left over from fermentation) before distillation in their red copper still.

Established in 1853, Louis Royer is a Cognac house located in Jarnac along the Charente River. They use grapes grown in all six regions of Cognac. This VS is their youngest of their portfolio. Both Tronçais and Limousin oak are used for aging.

Landy is became a collaboration in 1989 between Alexandre Gabriel, President & Owner of Cognac Ferrand, and a family in the Charente. This is their youngest cognac in the Landy portfolio and was distilled from grapes in the Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, and Fins Bois regions.

Godet is an old cognac house dating back to 1782 and currently has a 15th generation descendant, Jean Edouard Godet working for the company. The VS is their youngest expression and consists of grapes from the Fins Bois, Borderies, and Bons Bois.

Dating back to 1724, Rémy Martin has a long and storied history in Cognac. This marque, 1738 Royal Accord, pays tribute to one of Rémy Martin's earliest accolades when the French King Louis XV bestowed a reward of excellence on the distillery. A blend of various eaux-de-vie, this Fine Champagne Cognac is a step up from Rémy's flagship VSOP.

This VSOP from Courvoisier uses grapes grown in four of the allowable six regions in Cognac: Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Fin Bois, and Borderies. This VSOP is said to contain brandies ranging from 5 to 15 years of age. The bottle is specifically designed to be a better fit in bartenders' hands and the blend is suited for cocktail use.

Pierre Ferrand doesn't classify their cognacs with the standard VS, VSOP, XO, etc. classifications. Using their own labeling, Ambre, their youngest standard expression, is an average of 10 years. Ferrand uses mostly ugni blanc grapes with a small portion of colombard grapes used and all were sourced from the Grande Champagne area.

HINE is a cognac house which only uses eaux de vie from Grande and Petite Champagne growing regions. Their H by HINE is created using 20 different eaux de vie with a minimum aging of 4 years. HINE is a producer which distills its wine on the lees providing a roundness to their cognacs.

Maxime Trijol is a cognac house that has been growers and producers since the mid 1850's. They also purchase wine from other families in cognac to help supplement what they create. They have a Grande Champagne VSOP bottling as well, but this is their Classic VSOP bottling.

This expression is the youngest released from Courvoisier and uses eaux de vie that range in age from 4-7 years. The grapes are primarily sourced from the Fins Bois region with some Petite Champagne used as well.